


One Head Taller

by ImaRavenclaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute Kiss, Height Differences, M/M, body issues, eventual acceptance of self, teen for thinking about body altering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 22:31:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12567648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaRavenclaw/pseuds/ImaRavenclaw
Summary: Even gorgeous people have their insecurities.For WindingArrow’s Body Positive Challenge





	One Head Taller

It hadn’t bothered him until _the_ kiss. The First Kiss, though certainly not the best one you would ever have, one of the most important. Cedric Diggory had always been a little bit taller than everyone around him, he just wasn’t really aware of it until faced with the newest milestone. At age thirteen he was a gangly thing, and it rather annoyed the first girl he was intimate with.

 

She was a pretty little thing, with golden hair and a cheery disposition. And she wasn’t short either, so it couldn’t _really_ pose a problem… Until it did. Cedric had to crouch himself down and even then she had to stand on her tiptoes. At thirteen Cedric probably shouldn’t have cared about the fact that she didn’t want to date him because quote: they could never make attractive kissers since Cedric was so vertically inclined.

 

He wasn’t a bad looking bloke, and he was kind. But even so, every subsequent person he dated had something to say about it. Cho Chang only mentioned it once, but even so he couldn’t help but stay up at night dreading the thing he couldn’t change.

 

If his eye colour bothered someone, he could put contacts in.

If his sharp jaw bothered anyone, he could accentuate it with makeup.

If his shoes bothered anyone, heck, he just had to change them!

 

Height was something that honest to Godric _would not change_.

 

Unfortunately Cedric wasn’t thinking about all the awesome things he could do if he was tall.

 

There was that weird muggle sport where everyone was six foot, he’d be good at reaching high things for short people, when he was in a crowd he’d see everything that was happening, and he’d make a better modelling candidate (or maybe that was just women).

 

It wasn’t until he was at the end of his 5th year, at age 16 that he came to understand he was taking it too far. Somehow—he didn’t remember how—but he’d stumbled upon a shrinking potion. And on a Saturday afternoon he’d become dead set on making it, even though if it was done wrong it might have deadly consequences.

 

He had every ingredient, and was going through the potions book trying to find the instructions, when bloody Oliver Wood sauntered into the room.

 

“Diggory?” He asked, shocked to see him there.

 

“Hmmhm.” He mumbled, not looking up.

 

And then as usual, Wood got chatty and started talking up a storm. ‘I’m failing Potions because of quidditch, hahaha, I’m here for extra credit, blah blah blah, how are you?’ Cedric didn’t even understand most of it because Wood was speaking so fast. After what seemed like hours of talking, Wood picked up papers and slid out the room. Cedric let out a breath, and went back to work… But then Wood came back.

 

_Slam!_ His hands landed on the table Cedric was at. “I forgot to ask you what you were working on.” And then before Cedric could grab the book and run for the hills, Oliver took it in his hands. His eyes feasted upon the instructions, but then his face fell. “This isn’t in the OWL curriculum.”

 

“No, uh, just personal interests.” Cedric shrugged awkwardly, grabbing the book and trying to pull it away from Oliver. Oliver tugged it back.

 

“I’ve never seen you crack a book in five years. So you’re just suddenly Snape’s best friend now?”

 

“I didn’t say that. I just said it was interesting.” Cedric defended.

 

“Look, I hate to put you on the spot but, I’d overheard some girls talking about how if it wasn’t for how tall you were, they’d ask you out. And I think you’re self conscious about it.”

 

“I’m not at all! I don’t care what some 2nd year girls say about me. I’m fine, and Potions _is_ a personal interest Wood!” Cedric never got angry, but now he was fuming.

 

And though Wood had a temper on the pitch, he never got angry either. And yet the way he spat, “liar!” made it resonate with Cedric. Then he shook his head and said, “no, no. I’m so sorry.”

 

Cedric looked down. Up until this point he’d never been able to admit to even himself, but something tugged deep down inside of him. If he didn’t say something, he might end up doing something he’d regret. “No, don’t be. You’re right.”

 

To Oliver it was a whisper, but to Cedric it was a shout. The apperception that Wood could do anything with that information came immediately afterwards, and Cedric almost regretted it.

 

But then Wood put his hand over Cedric’s. “Look me in the eyes.” He said. “We all have things that we can’t admit to ourselves. I know I do. But you have a great body, and you should be proud of it. There’s a ton of super awesome shit you can do!” And then he added with a laugh, “And you probably never got denied a roller coaster ride when you were a kid.”

 

There was a difference between kind and nice. Nice was benefitting yourself, and kind was benefitting others. People had been nice to Cedric about his height, but no one had been kind before. And here was a person he barely knew, with good words for him. Cedric realized that he shouldn’t care about other people’s taste in height. He _did_ have a perfect body.

 

Cedric stood up suddenly and bunched Wood’s shirt up in his fist, dragging him as close as he possibly could with the table between them. Though Wood was at least a head shorter, this kiss, was a kiss that bothered neither of them. Oliver’s eyes had flickered in shock, but it was good shock. He kissed back with as much fervour as Cedric.

 

When they broke apart, Cedric blushed. “Sorry.” He said sheepishly.

 

“Don’t be!” Oliver said. “Best bloody kiss ever!”

 

“My height doesn’t bother you?”

 

“I like that you’re tall. But if my height bothers you then I can always buy a pair of stilts.”

 

“No, I like you just the way you are.”

 

“As do I.”


End file.
